The Trinidad and Tobago government wants to ask the court to have several people designated as terrorists so as to freeze their assets.
This was revealed by Attorney General Faris-al-Rawi who told Parliament, “the country deserves action and enforcement and that is what we intend to deliver.”
The AG said he could not give a precise number of the nationals who are currently fighting with ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in the Middle East.
“We are approaching the issues of foreign terrorist fighters… by separate stand-alone legislation as well, which would be coming to the Parliament shortly,” he said.
Al-Rawi said the matter of foreign terrorist fighters was being addressed by all the security apparatuses in Trinidad and Tobago and with the country’s international partners.
He said it was important to deal with the terrorist threat and apply the laws of the country, and to work with Trinada’s international partners to eradicate terrorism and the financing of terrorism.
The attorney general had explained earlier that Section 22B of the Anti-Terrorism Act can be invoked to deal with people who have been proven to be linked to ISIL and are wishing to return to the country.
The act allows the attorney general to apply to a judge for an order to designate an individual a terrorist and freeze assets where there are reasonable grounds to believe the entity or individual is knowingly acting on behalf of, at the direction of, or in association with an entity designated as a terrorist entity by the United Nations Security Council, such as ISIL.
